


Hell on Earth

by VictoriaAGrey



Category: Walking Dead, Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Because I seriously can't be the only one who wondered how that conversation went, Fill-In the Blanks, Gen, Longest tag ever right there, Post Season 3, Rick Stepping Down
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-01
Updated: 2014-03-01
Packaged: 2018-01-14 03:46:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,588
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1251577
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VictoriaAGrey/pseuds/VictoriaAGrey
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rick Grimes comes to the decision to step down from leadership and breaks the news to Daryl first.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hell on Earth

**Author's Note:**

> After watching season 3 again, I wondered when exactly Rick stepped down, formed the council, and Daryl willingly became a member of it. My attempt to fill in the blanks :)

Rick Grimes had heard the old adage “Heaven on Earth” enough in his youth that he truly believed he could find it, or create it, someday. What he failed to consider was that the reason Heaven on Earth was so fleeting and needed to be found was because Earth, in its natural state, is Hell. Never was that truer than now. In his attempts to create a Heaven for his family, he had unwittingly invited Hell to descend upon them like a swarm of locusts with the Devil himself leading the charge.

What disturbed him to the core, however, was that he regretted not one action he took that led them to that point.

Long nights were spent reviewing his memories of the time since they had arrived at the prison and nowhere could he find a time when the decision he made was the wrong one. Kill the prisoners in the cafeteria on sight, blood would have been on his hands. Not rescue Glenn and Maggie, and later on Daryl, from Woodbury, his conscience would have never let him forget it. Shoot the Governor when he arrived for their meeting, he, Daryl, and Hershel would have been killed and war started. There were so many places where he had gone wrong, but he could see no other way around what he had done.

Just because his choices weren’t the wrong ones, didn’t make them the right ones either.

The decision to step away from leadership was easy enough once he reached his resolve. With the new arrivals and his son heading down a dark path where there would be nothing but survival and justifications for whatever means that required, the group needed to be presided over by a council, not a lone man, while he attempted to bring his son back. This was the best possible decision for everyone; the only difficulty was in figuring out how to bring this change about. At least he knew where to start.

His search for Daryl Dixon was proving to be more trying than he had initially hoped for. It was an off time for him where he was not on some sort of duty around the prison and he was notoriously scarce during those rare times. Everyone usually respected his unspoken desire for solitude, but Rick felt this was a more appropriate time to break the news rather than when he was on watch and couldn’t discuss everything that Rick needed them to. While everyone in the prison regarded him as the de facto leader, it was also true that they, as well as Rick, saw Daryl as his second in command. He needed him on board with this or he didn’t know how it would work. They had to present a united front or dissension would spread and uncertainty in the group’s ability to make decisions would be questioned.

Rick’s search was ended when he found the hunter on the roof, crossbow nearby. Leave it to Daryl to still be on duty when he’s not actually on duty, Rick thought with amusement as he walked to stand next to him.

“Hey,” he intoned gently in the hopes of disturbing Daryl’s peace as little as possible.

“Hey.”

Both lapsed into silence that for most might seem awkward, but for them was calming. They weren’t the type that had to speak in order to communicate and Rick sometimes wondered if that was why they were so effective as a team. All it took was a single look and they could convey a whole multitude of thoughts. In fact, when both had a little downtime and chose to spend it with each other, they barely exchanged two words yet both felt better for having spent that time together. It was an odd relationship, but it worked for them.

“Somethin’ wrong?” Daryl asked in a way that was both a question and a statement. It spoke of their relationship that Rick picked up on that and Daryl already knew something was amiss.

“No. Everything’s fine.”

“You’re a shit liar.”

Looking out of the corner of their eyes, they both caught the others look and allowed themselves a chuckle. _Got to take humor where you can get it in this world_ seemed to be everybody’s motto these days.

“Look, nothin’s wrong, but I do have somethin’ I need to tell you.”

Rick interpreted Daryl’s silence as a ‘go ahead.’

“I think we should form a council.”

“A council?” Daryl replied, sounding slightly baffled. “Why?”

“Too many people here now. Can’t have one person making all the decisions for the group.”

“You were doin’ just fine last I checked.”

Rick allowed himself a smirk that held no mirth. “I’m not so sure about that.”

“I am.”

Daryl’s statement, while not overtly sentimental, spoke volumes to Rick. He sounded so damn sure of himself that Rick honestly questioned whether he was doing the right thing or not for a second. If only he could hold such confidence in himself as a leader as Daryl did.

“Carl killed that boy,” Rick quietly admitted for the first time while looking out at the sunset and steadfastly ignoring Daryl’s gaze, the confession taking too much out of him. “I’m losing him and I can’t allow that to happen.”

“What’re you sayin’?”

“I’m steppin’ down. I can’t do this anymore.”

“What?” Daryl voiced, sounding for the world as if he had just been greatly offended.

“I’m done, Daryl,” Rick said as he turned to finally face him. “My final act will be formin’ this council.”

With Rick’s revelation out in the open, he and Daryl lapsed into what could be politely called a stare-down. It was the closest that Rick could recall of him ever showing outright opposition since the discussion of the deal that would have handed Michonne over to the Governor. The blessing and curse of Daryl Dixon was that he was too loyal to voice his disagreement, but he always managed to find a way of passively letting you know _exactly_ how he felt about what had been said and done. Rick knew he would probably be paying for this one for awhile, but he knew that was a price he was willing to pay.

“Are you at least goin’ to be on this council?” Daryl questioned after an indiscernible amount of time, still looking unsure and bothered.

“No.”

Rick watched helplessly as Daryl looked away, placing his hands on his waist in what he was sure was some sort of comfort mechanism. He knew that Daryl wouldn’t like the idea of him stepping down, but would accept it. In that moment, Rick knew he had been right in talking to Daryl first, in private, before taking it to the whole group.

“Listen, I just need - ”

“I got it.”

“No, really - ”

“I got it,” Daryl assured him with a look in his eyes that told Rick that he really did. “I got it.”

To say Rick was relieved would be an understatement. He took a moment to appreciate it before he made one last request, not as the leader of the group, but as one brother to another.

“There’s one more thing.”

“For fuck’s sake, Rick! What now? Plannin’ to take the kids and leave the prison? If that’s it, I’m afraid I’m gonna have to put my foot down on that one.”

Both laughed at the suggestion, although Rick did note the not-so-silent promise underlying his seemingly nonchalant tone. “No, nothin’ like that. It’s a request more than anything.”

“And that request is?”

“You sit on the council,” Rick replied, putting as much heart into his request as possible. “They look up to you. It’s important that you’re still a major part of the decision making process around here.”

“Couldn’t I turn that around and say that’s why you should be on the council?”

And there was the first passive dig Rick was waiting for. It made him smile.

“You could, but you won’t.”

“Who else should be on this thing?”

Rick half-expected an uphill battle with getting Daryl to agree to be a part of the council. While he was more than willing to contribute when he could, Daryl never took the whole ‘looked upon as a leader’ thing particularly well. Rick was certain being a part of a more official governing body disconcerted him, if his grimace was anything to go by, but the fact that he said _who else_ rather than _who_ told him that Daryl accepted his request.

“Hershel, Glenn, Carol. I was also thinkin’ Sasha from the Woodbury group. She seems to have some sway with ‘em.”

“Alright. And when do we tell everybody?”

“We could tell them now since it’s headed towards dinner time and most will be in there.”

With a nod of his head, Daryl bent down and picked up his crossbow. Rick decided to take one last quick look at the sunset before they headed in. It really was quite stunning, the pinks and oranges dancing together to cast a stunning display of colors across the landscape. Maybe this was God’s way of letting him know that he was making the right decision.

“Just so ya know, as a member of the council, I am more than willin’ to let ya join in whenever ya feel like it.”

And there was the second passive dig, Rick laughed to himself. Daryl truly was on a roll with these. Maybe he should take a tally and see how many he gets to by the end of the week.

**Author's Note:**

> Come visit me at my Tumblr, [mycroft-silently-judges-you](http://mycroft-silently-judges-you.tumblr.com)!


End file.
